This post is long overdue. There are rumors of an actual trophy headed my way, and I was waiting for it to arrive before writing this. Maybe the engraver misspelled something and they had to start from scratch? It IS made out of the blood, sweat, and tears of exercising PWD’s, you know…

Well worth the wait in my opinion. 🙂

In August, I was completely surprised and incredibly honored to receive the grand prize of the Insulindependence 2013 Athletic Achievement Award contest. What a blessing!

So Many Thanks!

I am forever grateful to the many brave trailblazers of DESA and other early exercise-with-diabetes-minded groups. Without you, and your determination to risk your very lives to figure out how to make diabetes and exercise co-exist, we’d never be where we are today. To have been in the same room as so many of you in San Diego was so special for me. Your warm and encouraging welcome, your willingness to teach us newbies, and the many sacrifices you’ve made over the years for us are a testament to how deeply you care for exercise and what it has done for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My new bike!

I am so thankful to everyone in the diabetes online community who rallied behind me and my simple message. You made this happen, and this award is yours as much as it is mine. Not only did you tolerate my constant pestering for votes/views/shares through June and July, but you also adopted my campaign and gave it a life of its own. Thank you.

The Conference!

The award show happened during the 14th North American Conference on Diabetes & Exercise, which was an absolutely incredible event. I learned so much and heard so many expert speakers that my mind was totally spinning after the first couple of hours. But what really stuck with me over the weekend was the value and importance that Insulindependence sees in peer support, which parallels much of what we see and experience in the diabetes online community.

Another key observation for me during the conference was that many of the strategies applied by athletes and superstars are the same things you and I can apply in order to mow our lawns, go for a walk, or ride our bikes without going low. The knowledge, much of it anyway, applies to whatever activity you want to do. This is important! This means that Insulindependence has much to offer you no matter what your activity level is. You do not need to be an elite athlete to benefit tremendously from the collective experience they have to offer.

Because I so believe in this message, and because I so believe how even just a little activity can help everyone, I am completely at the service of Insulindependence to help them activate you! (There you have it, Peter & Felicia, it’s in writing! 🙂 )

The Matching Shirts!

My new computers

In a confirmatory swipe of the Good Lord’s orchestrated brush, the salesman at the Apple Store that helped me with the other part of my prize purchase was a former competitive triathlete sponsored by Reebok (hi, John)!

He was awesome and was super interested to hear about the award and Insulindependence and everything they are about.

Of course, of the endless army of Apple Store employees working, I would get the one that would most identify with what I was there for that day. It was meant to be! I even accidentally wore a matching shirt…

The Big Picture!

There is a large part of me that was very uncomfortable with the competition aspect of this. Everyone that submitted a video has a story that blows me away, and everyone that submitted a video deserves this award as much (or more) than I do. It was Greg Florian, one of the finalist up there with me, who made me feel better about it. He said that through this campaign we have collectively reached a lot of people, therefore spreading the message of Insulindependence to many people. To date, our videos have been viewed nearly thirty-thousand times! Thanks for helping me see the big picture, Greg!

See You in Philly?

And I’ve been faithfully training, as prescribed. This is the start of my third week, and I’m already feeling a difference.

Jimmy’s Video!

The ever-inspiring Jimmy Dodson captured the award on video and shared it with the word! Thank you, Jimmy!

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I am so glad the award is helping you get the things that you need to be the awesome advocate you are! There’s definitely power in knowing that the “average dude” (you are FAR from average) can exercise and train and become the athlete they want to be! That’s what got you all the votes!

I’m so proud of you and so happy that you won this award. I know that everyone deserved to win, but maybe you deserved it just a little bit more. Look forward to hearing about your race in Philadelphia!

You can keep your new bike, but I’m totally jealous of the new laptop:)